Patent Application
20080289493
The present invention relates to processing treatment of waste from domestic livestock and poultry operations and in particular to an integrated system for efficiently processing waste material from domestic livestock and poultry operations.
Domestic livestock and poultry operations in the United States produce a substantial portion of the food regularly consumed by the pubic. Unfortunately, these operations also produce significant waste which must be dealt with, and significant odors not appreciated by local residents. Until the present time, no large scale systems have been developed to deal efficiently with green house gas created in the form of methane.
The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing an advanced methane and ammonia recovery system which processes gaseous waste from domestic livestock and poultry farms to reduce the green house gasses which are presently dumped into the environment and to produce useful material. The system includes a gas recovery system. The methane and ammonia recovery system captures ammonia and methane and converts the ammonia into fertilizer and methane into energy. The system is designed to substantially reduce the amount of green house gases introduced into the environment, while providing additional income to the domestic livestock and poultry farms.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a gas recovery system including a barn, a gas capture vessel, an ammonia/methane separator, a compressor/chiller and membrane unit, and a methane storage tank. The gas capture vessel has a height between approximately 20 feet and approximately 25 feet and a diameter between approximately eight feet and approximately ten feet, and resides at a peak of the barn for collecting gaseous waste. A first methane sensor resides inside the gas capture vessel between approximately two feet and approximately four feet below a top of the gas capture vessel and a second methane sensor resides inside the gas capture vessel vertically between approximately 2.5 feet and approximately four feet above a bottom of the gas capture vessel. A first ducting fluidly connects the gas capture vessel to the ammonia/methane separator and a second ducting fluidly connects the ammonia/methane separator and the compressor/chiller and membrane unit. A fan resides in the flow between the ammonia/methane separator and the compressor/chiller and membrane unit and controlled by the first methane sensor and the second methane sensor. A third ducting fluidly connects the compressor/chiller and membrane unit to the methane storage tank for carrying methane from the compressor/chiller membrane unit to the methane storage tank. The compressor/chiller and membrane unit separates methane gas from other gasses and the methane gas stored in the methane storage tank may be used to power a generator.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for controlling a gas recovery system. The method includes the steps of initially turning to OFF a fan used to draw gaseous waste from a gas capture vessel through the gas recovery system. The system then enters a loop and tests if the fan is ON or OFF. If the fan is ON and if a first gas sensor residing inside the gas capture vessel proximal to a top of the gas capture vessel is sensing the presence of the gaseous waste, the fan remains ON. If the fan is ON and if the first gas sensor is not detecting the presence of the gaseous waste, the fan is turned OFF. If the fan is OFF, leaving the fan OFF if either or both the first gas sensor is not sensing the presence of the gaseous waste and a second gas sensor residing inside the gas capture vessel proximal to a bottom of the gas capture vessel is not sensing the presence of the gaseous waste. If the fan is OFF, turning the fan ON if both gas sensors are detecting the presence of the gaseous waste.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.
An advanced methane and ammonia recovery system according to the present invention is shown in
The other gasses are carried by second ducting 20 to a compressor/chiller and membrane unit 22 where the methane is separated from oxygen and nitrogen. The separation is preferably done by selectively permeable membrane(s). The compressor/chiller and membrane unit 22 preferably includes a fan to draw the gaseous waste 13 from the gas capture vessel 14 to the ammonia/methane separator 18 and from the ammonia/methane separator 18 to the compressor/chiller and membrane unit 22. Methane captured by the compressor/chiller and membrane unit 22 is carried by a third ducting 23 to a methane storage tank 24.
A perspective view of the gas capture vessel 14 is shown in
The cylindrical body 14a has a height H1 which is preferably between approximately 20 feet and approximately 25 feet tall and a diameter D1 which is preferably between approximately eight feet and approximately ten feet, but may vary outside this range depending on the number of animals in the barn. Gas sensors S1 and S2 reside inside the cylindrical body 14a. An upper gas sensor S1 resides a second height H2 below the top of the cylindrical body 14a and a lower gas sensor S2 resides a third height H3 above the base of the cylindrical body 14a. The gas sensors are preferably methane sensors, but may sense any gas present in the gaseous waste 13 in sufficient quantities to allow reliable sensing of the presence of the gaseous waste 13 in the gas capture vessel 14. The height H2 is preferably between approximately two feet and approximately four feet depending on the number of animals in the barn. The height H3 is preferably between approximately 2.5 and approximately four feet, and is more preferably approximately four feet.
A method for controlling an operation of the gas recovery system is described in
A small barn 30 with the gas capture vessel 14 residing at a peak, and gas processing equipment is shown in
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.
